Preserving Skins

Jon Porter wrote:
Tom Guntzel ) wrote:
: I will soon begin receiving partridge, wood duck and pheasant skins
from
: friends hunting this fall.

: What should I do to cure the skins without harming the feathers?

It's easy. Just takes a little time to do it right...

1. First, you want to strectch the skin out on a board (plywood
works) so
that the feathers are down under the skin. Pin it down with tacks or
brads. The skin does not need to be drum tight, just so that it won't
wiggle around as you work on it.

2. Scrape off as much fat as possible with a dull knife or round
edged
scraper. With bird skins you need to be careful so that you don't
pull the
skin apart in the process. Just get most of the fat. To much fat left
on
the skin gets into the feathers after a while.

3. Salt down the skin. Cover it under a layer of non-iodized table
salt.
(It is cheaper than iodized) Many prefer to use borox instead. The
trick
here is to cover it completely just on the skin side. Let it sit for
a day
or two and then scrape it off and put on a fresh layer of salt. Do it
again if you still see the salt pulling moisture out of the skin.

4. After about two weeks of the salt treatment, scrape off the final
layer
of salt removing all that you possibly can. I like to use a brush to
completely remove the salt. Store the skins in ziplock bags or air
tight
boxes to keep the bugs out. Moth ball or cedar chips can help with
that.


I still have skins that I have salted from several years ago using
this
method. The feathers are still good.

Jon Porter